Do you grease new fuel pumps before installation?

[JamesR]

I've both greased and not greased fuel pumps before installation. I'm talking about the internal part of the pump where the rocker arm goes into the pump. When I've applied grease it has been at the recommendation of the manufacturer to keep the rocker arm in the optimum position for installation...which doesn't really work, IMO. It doesn't seem to have been for the purpose of lubrication. I've always presumed the exposure of the moving pump parts to the crankcase oil has provided enough lubrication, but maybe I'm wrong. I thought I'd ask you guys what you do.

 

I'm putting a new fuel pump in a FE Ford V-8, and I see that I greased the previous one I put in. I'd forgotten I'd done that. What do you do? If so, what kind of grease do you use?

[avgwarhawk]

Never greased the pivot arm. Motor oil sloshing around  is enough. 

[joe_padavano]

I usually rub some grease on the surface of the arm where it rides on the eccentric to prevent galling from a dry startup. On Chevy V8s one has to use grease to hold the fuel pump pushrod in place when replacing the pump. I've never figured out who thought this design was a good idea, but I haven't had a problem getting the pushrod to stay in place, either.

[Frank DuVal]

The shop manual method (Chevy V-8) is to replace a front of engine bolt with a longer one that screws in far enough to hold the pushrod. Grease works fine and you don’t have to look for another bolt. 😉

 

A memory from about 1964 is sitting in LaPlata MD on US 301 in a service station for 6 hours while the weekend “mechanic” replaced the fuel pump on dad’s 283 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne. Dad had to borrow the mechanic’s car to drive to Waldorf to get the replacement pump. The rest of the time was spent having the mechanic try to get the pump on before the rod fell down. Grease never entered the process. 😱

[KerriLewis]

No don't grease.

[JamesR]

On 4/14/2023 at 8:52 AM, KerriLewis said:

No don't grease.

I didn't grease it. As Joe suggested, though, I did put some light lube on the part of the rocker arm that makes contact with the activating surface.